Original printed music for the Spanish vihuela de mano came into being during a short but productive period, 1536-1576. In all, seven collections devoted exclusively or principally to the instrument were printed. In addition, four printed books included music for the vihuela or other instruments. Four known manuscripts are devoted to the vihuela.
PUBLICATIONS FOR THE VIHUELA
1. Luis de Milan, Libro de música de vihuela de mano: Intitulado El Maestro. Valencia, 1536.
El maestro. Edited, translated, and transcribed by Charles Jacobs. University Park [Pa.] Pennsylvania State University Press [1971]. In part for vihuela; in part for voice and vihuela.
3. Luis Narváez, Los seis libros del Delphín de música de cifra para tañer vihuela. Valladolid, 1538.
(1) Monumentos de la música española, vol. 3 (1945), ed. by Emilio Pujol. (2) El Delphin de música, transcripción y estudio por Emilio Pujol. Barcelona: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Español de Musicología, 1945; reprinted 1971.
Los vihuelistas : Luys de Narváez, transcription by Rodrigo de Zayas. Madrid : Alpuerto, 1981.
3. Alonso Mudarra, Tres libros de música en cifra para vihuela, intitulado Orphencia lyra. Naples, 1546.
Monumentos de la música española, vol. 7 (1949), ed. by Emilio Pujol.
Modern tablature transcriptions by Donald Sauter: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049/amtab.htm
(Mudarra’s publication also contains six pieces for four-course guitar, the earliest music published for the instrument.)
4. Enriquez de Valderrábano, Libro de música de vihuela, intitulado Silva de sirenas. Valladolid, 1547.
Monumentos de la música española, vol. 22 (1965), ed. by Emilio Pujol. In 2 vols.
5. Diego Pisador, Libro de música de vihuela. Salamanca, 1552.
El libro de música de vihuela de Diego Pisador, 3 vols.: facsimile, study, and transcription. Ed. by Francisco Roa and Felipe Gértrudix. Madrid: Editorial Pymalión, 2002.
6. Miguel de Fuenllana, Libro de musica para vihuela, intitulado Orphenica lyria. Valladolid, 1554.
Orphénica lyra : (Seville 1554) / Miguel de Fuenllana, ed. by Charles Jacobs. Oxford : Clarendon Press, c1978.
(Fuenllana’s collection includes music for the four-course guitar and the earliest publication of music for the five-course guitar — nine pieces.)
7. Enrique Daza [Daça], Libro de música en cifras para vihuela intitulado: El Parnasso. Valladolid, 1576.
Los vihuelistas. Esteban Daça. Colección Opera Omnia, transcrption by Rodrigo de Zayas. Madrid: Alpuerto, 1983.
Esteban Daça, The Fantasias for Vihuela, ed. by John Griffiths. Middleton [WI]: A-R Editions, 1982.
PUBLICATIONS FOR VIHUELA OR OTHER INSTRUMENTS
1. Francesco da Milano, Intavolatura de viola o vero lauto. Naples, 1536.
Francesco da Milano, Intavolatura de viola o vero lauto: Libro primo [-secondo] de la Fortuna, facsimile edition with preface by Arthur Ness and index by Claude Chauvel. Geneva: Minkoff Reprint, 1988.
2. Luys Venegas de Henestrosa, Libro de cifra nueva para tecla, harpa, y vihuela. Alcalá, 1557.
Monumentos de la música española, vol. 2 (1944), ed. by Higinio Anglés.
3. Tomas de Santa María, Libro llamado Arte de tañer fantasia, assi para tecla como para vihuela. Valladolid, 1575.
(Music is mainly for the keyboard, but theoretical portions apply equally to the vihuela as a contrapuntal and harmonic instrument. Vihuela tuning is given.)
4. Antonio de Cabezón, Obras de música para tecla, arpa y vihuela. Madrid, 1578.
Monumentos de la música española, vol.27-29 (1966), ed. by Higinio Anglés.
VIHUELA MUSIC IN MANUSCRIPTS
1. “Siculus fragments” discovered on the flyleaf of a copy of Lucius Marineus Siculus’s Epistolarum familiarum (Valladolid, 1514).
An unfinished composition in tablature believed to be the earliest written music for the vihuela. See Antonio Corona-Alcalde, “The earliest vihuela tablature: a recent discovery,” Early Music 20/4 (1992): 595-600. Facsimile and transcription in modern notation.
2. “Simancas fragments” discovered in the Simancas Archives.
See Antonio Corona-Alcalde, “A vihuela manuscript in the Archivio de Simancas,” The Lute 26 (1986), part 1: 3-17.
3. Ramillete de flores, o colección de varias cosas curiosas. Madrid: Biblioteca nacional, 6001. Dated 1593.
Ramillete de flores: Colección inédita de piezas para vihuela (1593), ed. by Juan José Rey. Madrid: Alpuerto, 1975. 2 vols.: tablature transcription with commentary; transcription for guitar.
Ramillete de flores nuevas (1593), ed. by Javier Hinojosa and Frederick Cook. Zürich: Editio Violae, c1981. Facsimile, tablature transcription, and commentary.
4. The Barbarino Manuscript. Kraków: Biblioteka Jagiellonska: Mus. ms. 40032, from around 1685 with additions up to 1626.
Neapolitan Lute Music: Fabrizio Dentice, Giulio Severino, Giovanni Antonio Severino, Francesco Cardone, ed. by John Griffiths and Dinko Fabris. Middleton, WI: A-R Editions, c2004. (An edition of 32 pieces from this collection. The editors are currently preparing an edition of the complete manuscript, comprising over 400 pieces.)
5. Pieces added by hand to a copy of Valderrábano’s Silva de sirenas. Österreichesche Nationalsbibliothek: S.A. 76.A.15.
Study and partial edition: John Griffiths, “Extemities: the Vihuela in Development and Decline,” Luths et luthistes en Occident: Actes du colloque 13-15 mai 1998. Paris: Cité de la Musique, 1999, 51-61.
http://www.lgv-pub.com